Three Taliban prisoners, freed in return for the release of an Italian journalist, died in a US-led raid that killed top Taliban field commander Mullah Dadullah, Afghanistan security officials said on Wednesday.
One of those killed was Mullah Shah Mansoor, brother of Dadullah. The other two were Mullah Hamdullah and Mullah Ghafar.
The three served as Taliban commanders and were among  the militants killed in a US-led operation at the weekend in a southern region, the officials said.
They were among five senior Taliban members Kabul released in a controversial exchange for Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, whom Dadullah’s fighters had kidnapped in March.
The death of Dadullah, known as Afghanistan’s Al Zarqawi after the slain al Qaeda leader in Iraq, is seen as the most serious blow to the Taliban insurgency since the militants’ removal from power in 2001.
Dadullah was the main architect behind the rising attacks, including suicide raids, against Afghan and Western troops in southern Afghanistan, as well as kidnappings of foreigners and locals and a series of beheadings.
He has been replaced by his relatively unknown brother, Mullah Bakht Mohammad.
The Taliban are active largely in the southern and eastern areas, close to the border with Pakistan, where violence has surged in recent months after the traditional winter lull.
In the latest Taliban attack, a US-led coalition soldier was killed in the south on Tuesday after coalition troops had provided medical assistance to locals, the US military said on Wednesday.